Controllable preparation of nickel phosphide using iron and cobalt as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media

Abstract

Electrocatalytic water splitting is a promising method for hydrogen production, so the development of the efficient and stable catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is quite important in alkaline media. In this study, cobalt-iron-nickel phosphide nanoparticles (CoFeNiP/NF) were prepared on the nickel foam substrate, where Ni12P5 can be controllably generated by introducing Co dopants while only Ni3P was observed without adding Co. Also, the introduction of Fe and Co metals not only changed the phase of Nickel phosphide but also modified the morphology of material, which synergistically improve the HER performance. Thus, CoFeNiP/NF displays good electrocatalytic activity and durability for HER in alkaline media (1 M KOH), exhibiting a low onset overpotential of 27 mV and overpotential of 104 mV to reach the current density of 10 mA/cm2. The introduction of other metal ions not only changed the phase of Nickel phosphide but also modified the morphology of material, which synergistically improve the HER performance. This study not only provides a strategy for controllable preparation of nickel phosphides but also investigates structure/component design for transition metal phosphides electrocatalysts.